Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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The Little-Known Patterns on British Streets (youtube.com)
submitted by antdude
-shacklebolt- 3 points 6y ago
Honestly, I don't think that video gives a good impression of blind people or the capabilities of blind travelers.
First, saying "essentially, you think of partially sighted people with enough vision to be able to get around safely and independently, blind being below that threshold," potentially suggests two very wrong things to a sighted viewer:
- That people who have residual vision don't use mobility aids like canes or dogs
- That totally blind people can't get around safely and independently.
Also, he says that "Navigating around an unfamiliar area is always a bit scary, to be honest. Because, obviously, traditional visual clues, landmarks etc, aren't there."
Yes, but non-visual clues are there! We should not be teaching sighted people that it is "always scary" for blind people to travel.
He also complains that they are changing tactile paving from yellow in color to grey in color to be less of an eyesore, and that a partially sighted person such as himself might "find themselves in the road, not knowing they’re in the road, simply because those essential clues aren’t there."
Tactile paving isn't essential. High-contrast tactile paving especially isn't essential, because you have residual sight, hearing, and tactile sensation, etc to clue you in when you are approaching a road or have stepped on tactile paving!
If a person who is so called "partially sighted" is liable to wander into a road because there is not a bright yellow strip before it, that person should be traveling with a cane or dog and be appropriately trained in the non-visual techniques of safe travel and crossings. They should not be left at the mercy of the presence of the yellow strip, so they can promptly fall over something low-contrast when they get across the street, or get hit by a car because they didn't see it coming and don't know how to cross blind.
First, saying "essentially, you think of partially sighted people with enough vision to be able to get around safely and independently, blind being below that threshold," potentially suggests two very wrong things to a sighted viewer:
- That people who have residual vision don't use mobility aids like canes or dogs
- That totally blind people can't get around safely and independently.
Also, he says that "Navigating around an unfamiliar area is always a bit scary, to be honest. Because, obviously, traditional visual clues, landmarks etc, aren't there."
Yes, but non-visual clues are there! We should not be teaching sighted people that it is "always scary" for blind people to travel.
He also complains that they are changing tactile paving from yellow in color to grey in color to be less of an eyesore, and that a partially sighted person such as himself might "find themselves in the road, not knowing they’re in the road, simply because those essential clues aren’t there."
Tactile paving isn't essential. High-contrast tactile paving especially isn't essential, because you have residual sight, hearing, and tactile sensation, etc to clue you in when you are approaching a road or have stepped on tactile paving!
If a person who is so called "partially sighted" is liable to wander into a road because there is not a bright yellow strip before it, that person should be traveling with a cane or dog and be appropriately trained in the non-visual techniques of safe travel and crossings. They should not be left at the mercy of the presence of the yellow strip, so they can promptly fall over something low-contrast when they get across the street, or get hit by a car because they didn't see it coming and don't know how to cross blind.
Unuhi 2 points 6y ago
That's so much nicer than the tactiles and missing markings in US crossings.
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